Australian Customers Secured

Macquarie Hosting and Authentium partner to deliver anti-malware software and updates throughout Australia and Asia

Sydney – 3 October 2007 – Macquarie Hosting, a division of Macquarie Telecom, today announced that it has been selected by Authentium, a leading global software-as-a-service (SaaS) company to host its anti-malware software updates for Australia’s largest Internet service provider.

With the Macquarie Hosting agreement in place, Authentium partners in Australia and Asia will receive automated anti-virus updates, threat alerts, and more from Authentium’s Extensible Service Platform (ESP) solution, using Macquarie Hosting servers housed in its ISO and DSD Gateway certified data centre in Sydney, the Intellicentre.

Anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, data recovery, parental controls and content filtering software updates (including pop-up blocking and anti-phishing updates) are all hosted on 10 clustered high end HP servers with load balancing, and protected with high availability dedicated fire-walling.

Specialised services including SSL offloading have also been implemented to meet Authentium’s high level and peaking encryption requirements, reducing server overheads and maximising performance.  These features support Authentium’s upcoming launch of its VERO™ identity theft prevention solution, and the continued growth of the ESP Elements™ desktop software platform. All servers are connected to Macquarie Hosting’s managed storage area network (SAN).

Following a competitive tender, Macquarie Hosting was selected for its proven experience with one hundred per cent web-facing companies and its ability to provide 24/7, low latency availability of mission critical applications.

A reliable and secure hosting provider in Australia was essential for Authentium in securing its recent partnerships in the region. Provisioning anti-virus alerts and updates from local servers, as opposed to those housed in the US, reduces latency and the window of opportunity for cyber-criminals to strike. This added security benefit assists Authentium and its broadband partners in their commitment to providing a safe, entertaining and productive online experience for their customers across the globe.

Authentium uses Macquarie Hosting to Push into AsiaPac

Authentium is also using Macquarie Hosting’s data centre to serve its continued expansion into Asia.

Authentium is demonstrating its ESP suite of solutions, including the revolutionary transaction security technology of VERO™, and it’s latest desktop services platform, ESP Elements™, to key Internet service providers, financial service providers and portal operators in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, via Macquarie Telecom’s infrastructure.

The flexibility provided by hosting its ESP in Macquarie Telecom’s data centre gives Authentium the confidence and ability to quickly scale to accommodate its projected growth within the region.

“Malware epidemics gain momentum quickly and instant response is the best way to prevent the spread,” said Aidan Tudehope, Managing Director, Hosting for Macquarie Telecom.

“By hosting updates locally, companies like Authentium can respond quickly and ramp up their infrastructure within hours if required. This is particularly relevant for Authentium as it delivers Software as a Service. If their servers don’t scale, they can’t service their customers” Tudehope said.

The security software-as-a-service industry is forecast to reach US$10.7 billion by 2009 according to IDC and is emerging as one of the fastest-growing sectors in the exploding SaaS market.